


All The Playground's A Stage, And You Look Like A Tragic Hero

by ourheart



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Action Figures, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - School, Bullying, Fluff, Gen, Non-Binary Chara, Non-Binary Frisk, schoolyard AU, throwaway villains are fun right?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 09:31:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6561079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ourheart/pseuds/ourheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well… Maybe Radem would be stronger if he had a partner? I’m sure that these guys would make a great team! One that could easily stop the King of Darkness!” Frisk offered, excitedly gripping their robot with a grin, one fist in the air to add dramatic flair. </p><p>-</p><p>Everyone always said that seven was a lucky number, so going by that logic, seven should be a lucky age too, right? Frisk makes a friend(?) at school. Adorable shenanigans ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All The Playground's A Stage, And You Look Like A Tragic Hero

**Author's Note:**

> Written by Eissibee  
> -  
> School-yard AU - Chara was adopted by the Dreemurrs and Frisk has their own backstory with an OC called Mycer ("Mousy") which Dearheart invented, and you'll likely see more of it later!  
> (My second ever fic written, a bit longer this time too)
> 
> -
> 
> Fun fact: The toys in this story are extremely cheesy anagrams!

Everyone always said that seven was a lucky number, so going by that logic, seven should be a lucky age too, right? It was a hopeful notion, and one that Frisk held onto every day, even when it was proved wrong time and time again. They weren’t the most outspoken child, nor did they have many possessions of their own, but Frisk still held onto the thought that things might change. Caught up in their daydreams, they barely heard the school bell ring, signalling that chaotic hour of freedom that was the lunch break. They packed up their bag and shrugged it over their shoulders, watching silently as the other children poured out of the doors like water through a sieve. 

They slowly made their way to the door and headed out into the playground, a dusty yellow landscape dotted with patches of grass and shade. They headed towards the heavily occupied jungle gym but walked on past it, not overly keen to repeat yesterday’s… _ events _ . Kids often teased Frisk for their quiet nature and second hand clothes (that didn’t quite fit them), or for the unfortunate fact that they didn’t have…

Well. It didn’t matter. They had Mousy to stay with, and Mousy loved them, and that was more important than the snide comments the other children tried to hurt them with. Frisk continued on, avoiding all the places where their tormentors usually played. They’d always been rather good at dodging things, always running away. But it was necessary. As mean as the kids could be sometimes, Frisk didn’t want to fight anyone. They knew that it would only make things worse in the long run, and they weren’t sure they even had it in them anyway. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t important. What was important now was finding a good place to sit to eat their lunch, even if it was by themselves.

They soon found a shady spot beneath an oak tree, a distance away from the playground. This was fine, if not preferable when they wanted to just lose themselves in a book for a while. But as they were about to sit down and unpack their lunch, they glanced up to find they weren’t as alone as they thought. The child sitting nearby was so quiet, they hadn’t even noticed them. Frisk recognised them as a kid from the year group above their own. What was their name again… Chara? Yeah, that sounded right. They’d never spoken, but the name was somewhat… infamous on the playground. It was a name frequently screamed by teachers on lunch duty as they patrolled about. It seemed this troublesome child was often found in the middle of schoolyard scraps, feared for their short temper and cold attitude. Chara was almost never seen without Asriel, a much more soft and mild mannered boy. As far as Frisk knew, he was the only person that this grumpy kid associated with.

Today though, it didn’t look like Asriel was at school. Perhaps he was sick, or elsewhere, but it meant that Chara was alone. Just like Frisk was. As they peered around the tree at them, Frisk couldn’t help but notice how sluggishly they moved, how their head was bowed. It was impossible to see their face, as they sat facing the other way, but it wasn’t hard to imagine a morose expression on them.

Well, making friends had been hard enough for Frisk with how the bullies chased people away from them, but as far as they knew, Chara was also a loner, though perhaps by more their own volition. Still, it didn’t seem fair to leave someone looking so lonely without at least  _ trying  _ to say hello, right? To have courage, and be kind… That’s what Mousy always taught them. With this new resolve in their mind, Frisk picked up their things and stood, moving cautiously over to where the other child sat hunched over on the ground. They seemed to have an assortment of toys set out in front of them, quietly and half-heartedly muttering some sort of story through the plastic figurines. Frisk took a breath and cleared their throat. A short gasp suddenly sounded from the older child, as they ceased their game and whirled around to face them. Their cheeks were a bright pink, but Frisk couldn’t quite tell if it was embarrassment, anger, or the heat of the day. Probably all three.

“H-Hello. Chara, right?” Frisk paused with a nervous smile, waiting for a response. Chara quickly recovered from their surprise, their expression cooling to a frosty one as they gave no reply. Frisk continued. “I often see you with Asriel-”

“Yeah, and I often see  _ you  _ getting walked all over by those loser kids. They say a lot of things about you, y’know.”

Frisk was taken aback by the sharp words, their smile disappearing to be replaced with faint frustration. “Y-Yes, actually, I do know they say things-”

“You must really enjoy getting picked on, since you let them treat you like that.”

Frisk took a deep breath, one eyebrow twitching in annoyance.  _ Have courage and be kind _ . Be kind, be kind, be kind… What was this kid’s problem anyway?

“I don’t  _ let  _ them, I-” They shook their head and tried again, “I just thought you looked lonely here playing by yourself.”

“Well, I don’t give a damn what you thought. I only play with Asriel, and I don’t need your pity... OR your  _ friendship _ .”

Chara cast one more glare over their shoulder as they turned away, as if to make their point about wanting to be left alone. Just then, a sudden gust of wind whipped through the trees, knocking over a few of the smaller plastic toys. They had been arranged as if part of some grand stage play. Chara hissed their annoyance, scrambling about to stop the lighter pieces from blowing away. Righting the fallen toys with surprising care, they placed them back in their positions.

Frisk tried to swallow their hurt and took this opportunity to take a look at the toys more closely. The way they were set out, it seemed almost as if some great battle was about to take place. There were two toys more worn than the rest, positioned as if in the middle of a standoff. The toy closest to Chara appeared to be a knight of some kind. It looked like a human soldier had been crossed with a black panther, clawed fists curled pensively around a plastic sword - ready for battle. Stranger still, the panther warrior sported two gleaming golden horns between the ears, adding to the fearsome look it displayed. The armour was a dim copper colour, and someone had carefully painted a single yellow flower on the cuirass - surely a crest or symbol for the hero. 

Opposite this toy, there was a larger action figure all cloaked in black and purple clothing. It had a sweeping cape, an enormous jagged blade, and a mean sneer on it’s face. With closer inspection, it was clear this figurine sported a couple robotic limbs. Frisk imagined they were decked out in potential super weapons. It was clearly the villain of the story unfolding in front of them. Surrounding these two were the smaller, less important looking figurines that had almost been blown away before. They stood around, a mismatched army, playing audience to this battle between the two warriors. When Chara had finished reorganising their stage, they glanced at Frisk out of the corner of their eye. They then quickly turned away again, perhaps resorting to pretending they weren’t there. Frisk swallowed their nerves and spoke again, their voice quiet.

“...I-Is that the bad guy?” They inquired, pointing to the large purple-caped figurine.

“Obviously.” Chara retorted without turning around. They shuffled forward to tweak the arms of the toy, posing the jagged blade high, ready to strike. They didn’t resume the game though, waiting for Frisk to leave instead.

Frisk stood their ground and offered a shy smile. “He looks tough. It must be really hard for anyone to beat him.”

Chara snorted and replied. “Yeah, he’s pretty strong... but he’s a bad guy, and bad guys always lose in the end. Besides, there’s no way he could defeat Radem. He’s the strongest knight in the world.” There was a hint of pride in the way they declared this, grandly gesturing to the horned panther warrior with one hand. “Though I’ll admit, The King of Darkness is a pretty good match for him... Asriel named that guy.” They added after a pause, pointing to the more menacing toy.

Frisk looked down at their bag and fished around it’s contents for something. After some careful digging, they pulled out their own toy and held it to their chest, plastered fingers fiddling with it absent-mindedly. Frisk shuffled closer and glanced between the toys on the ground to the one clutched in their hand. Their own action figure was a particularly dear one to them, a past birthday present. It looked like a blue mech of some kind, with a red staff in one plastic fist. They had recycled an old pink tutu from a dollhouse and added it to the robot, thinking that perhaps the robot could be a dancer whenever it wasn’t taking part in the wild adventures they created. It probably gave it enhanced balance and speed anyway. Frisk kept changing their mind about the robot’s name, but at the moment they called it Pheo.

“Well… Maybe Radem would be stronger if he had a partner? I’m sure that these guys would make a great team! One that could easily stop the King of Darkness!” Frisk offered, excitedly gripping their robot with a grin, one fist in the air to add dramatic flair. They giggled and moved their toy forward, putting on a slightly robotic voice to speak through it.

“Your days of evil are over K-O-D! We bold heroes will stop you!”

Chara frowned, picking up the fearsome figurine in one hand. “As if!” They sneered in their own voice, subtly dropping their tone to sound more evil despite themself as they spoke again, “You? Defeat the King of Darkness? Please! You cannot even defend YOURSELF!” Chara roared, using the toy in their hand to roughly whack the robot from Frisk, sending it flying into the dust a few paces behind them. At first, Frisk was stunned. After all, it would seem clear to anyone that it was foul play to hit the toy from their grip so violently. But when they looked up at Chara, they saw something in their face that was perhaps often overlooked by the other children. They were grinning, but there was just a touch of regret in their eyes, as if they were unsure about what to do next. They were just messing around, however oddly they went about it, secretly wanting to play with other kids, but not quite understanding how. Frisk found they could perhaps relate to that, if just a little. They shuffled back to reach for Pheo, brushing the dirt from its tutu with their own tattered sweater. It seemed that Chara was waiting for a reaction, their grin fading into a cautious expression. The game had been opened up, and it all depended on what Frisk decided to do next.  _ Have courage, and- _

With a chuckle, Frisk moved forward again with their toy. “I’m afraid you can’t knock me down that easily! I am strong because my friends believe I can defeat you. I cannot let them down!” They shouted with a laugh, Pheo dashing forward to clash with the dark warrior, blade against staff, moving and jumping all over, before leaping forward to clash again and again, sound effects gleefully provided by both children. After a moment more of this, the King of Darkness lifted his blade and struck his foe down to the ground a second time. The physical action wasn’t as harsh, as if Chara was being more careful with both toys. Frisk made the robot cry out dramatically, falling for what appeared to be their defeat. Using the last scraps of power left, Pheo cried out for help.

“Oh, how sad! But nobody came.” Leered the Dark King.

Just then, out from the shadows, a mighty panther warrior answered the cry for help! Leaping into action, Radem dived in front of the evil villain, wasting no time in launching a counter attack. Weakened from the blows before, the King of Darkness began to fall back, his swings becoming more clumsy, missing the heroic knight in his attempts to slash him to pieces. Having had a chance to recover, Frisk had their toy stand and run to fight at Radem’s side. Chara seemed to have completely forgotten their spiky attitude towards Frisk, putting their all into the portrayal of the the villain and their knight. The two of them were just about to deal a finishing blow to the evil King when disapproving laughter interrupted them.

Frisk and Chara turned and stared at the small gaggle of children looming behind them. Their collective shadows darkened over the pair as they stalked closer. One boy stepped out from the crowd, his arms folded in a way meant to look tough. His eyes glinted with some unspoken joke, though Frisk knew it wasn’t a pun that was making the boy smile. They had no trouble recognising him, as he often led the relentless bullies that tormented them for fun.

“Well, well- Isn’t this something! The Ragdoll found a friend!” He spat towards Frisk, before turning to Chara, who sat in stunned silence. “I thought you hated everyone or something. You never talk to anyone but that other loser-”

“My brother.” Chara’s voice was level, their tone just managing to mask some deeper ire.

“ _ Half  _ brother. Remember? You wouldn’t have a family if his parents hadn’t picked you up off the street! I guess you two have something in common, huh? How touching.”

Chara narrowed their eyes, their hands curling into fists. The children outnumbered them, so they fought to keep their anger down. It was wiser to let petty remarks go, even if they cut like knives. Their track record for getting in trouble for fights was already pretty sorry.They looked away to mess with their toys, keen to avoid gracing the kid's curling sneer with a response.

“Yep, I guess freaks stick together huh? Though Frisk, I thought I told you before, you don’t really deserve friends. Remember?” The boy laughed, crossing the line into Frisk’s personal space, his hands on his hips. Frisk said nothing, having learnt long ago that sometimes silence will make bullies bored enough to leave. The boy gave a snort of contempt at their lackluster reaction. Shoving them roughly to the ground, the bully added a kick to the stomach for good measure. Surging forward as a group, the other children swarmed about Frisk, ready to continue following their leader's example. Frisk curled up on the ground in pain, a faint whimper escaping them. Laughing about how pathetic they were, their cruel leader was caught off guard by a sharp strike to the nose, his whole body staggering back from the impact. 

Frisk stared mouth agape as Chara had leapt between them, swinging at their shared oppressor with their full momentum. When the stars cleared from the boy’s vision, he was looking into eyes as fiery as a demon’s, belonging to a child who looked  _ very  _ ready to break a few of his fingers. Chara was uncertain as to why they suddenly cared so much, but they just felt determined to defend this other kid they barely knew. They  _ must _ be losing it...

“Leave them alone. Unless you want to know what it’s like to have your face punched off.” Chara snarled. They looked down at their still shaking fist, and noting the specks of blood on their knuckles, grinned with the knowledge it was not their own. Even though they were outnumbered, this was a situation Chara was well familiar with, and they knew best how to play a crowd. They flashed their creepiest smile, and added a low chuckle for good measure, causing a good few of the children to back off entirely. The leader of the rotten crew was holding his face with both hands, blood dripping profusely between his fingers.

“You… You’re crazy! You’re  _ crazy _ , and a  _ freak _ ! Y-You’re both freaks!” The boy cried out in a shaking voice, desperately trying to retain  _ some _ dignity as he ran with his tail between his legs. The rest of them followed in hot pursuit, their bravado gone with their leader. Chara let their theatrical laugh cascade into a terrifying villain’s cackle to scare the stragglers off, none of them wanting to fight the red eyed child. When the threat had passed, Chara slumped their tense shoulders and let out a long sigh. It was always all about stage presence, and they were lucky the other kids had been cowards. If they hadn’t been, things might’ve gotten a lot uglier for everyone. They kept avoiding eye contact with Frisk as they sat down next to their toys again. The both of them were quiet, their previous playful energy gone; replaced with a depressing tension the both of them could’ve done without.

Frisk swallowed and dusted themselves off, trying to think of the right words to break the silence.  _ Someone _ had to, before they were both smothered by it.

“...Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Chara’s tone was brittle when they spoke. Frisk wondered if they meant it literally, but shook their head and continued.

“No one’s ever stood up for me before. A-And I’m used to them really, but what they said to you wasn’t right either…” They inched closer to them, reaching out to Chara’s still curled fist with one hand. “You’re not hurt are you…?”

“Feh. That kid’s more hurt, don’t you think? Felt good to finally shut people like him up.” Chara flexed their fingers carefully and brought their knees up to their chest with a sigh. They were still avoiding Frisk’s concerned gaze.

“...I hate humans. Dogs are better.”

Frisk couldn’t help but smile a little at their matter-of-fact statement, despite the sadness behind the words.

“I agree. Dogs are pretty cool. But not all humans are bad, right? ...You’re not bad.”

Chara glanced at Frisk, cynicism written all over their face. “I just broke someone’s nose. How am I not bad?”

Frisk paused for a moment, their fore-finger moving to tap their chin in thought. How to explain it…

“W-Well… Y’know, it’s like....”

Letting their words trail off, they suddenly sat up straight with a smile. They reached over to where the toys lay and picked up the King of Darkness and Radem. Frisk held them up and waggled them in front of Chara’s bewildered face, nodding as if their point had already been made.

“You see? Like this! Like the game!” The beamed excitedly, not really slowing down enough for Chara to make sense of their rapidfire ramblings. “You saved me from the bad guys, so you’re a good guy! Like in our game!” They repeated earnestly.

Realisation dawned on Chara’s face, their frown vanishing to be replaced with a lopsided smile. They started laughing, the wheezy rasp gradually building into an orotund sound. “Hahaha! You… You really have your own way of seeing things, huh?” They gasped, quite out of breath. Frisk joined in, their own smile wide despite the dirt on their face and hair from being pushed down. They passed Radem to Chara and picked up their own Pheo with their free hand, lifting the King of Darkness high into the air with an evil laugh.

“Friendship is meaninglesssss” They hissed in a comically low voice, making it even harder for Chara to stop laughing. 

“Hahaha... Oh yeah? We’ll show you! You’ll never defeat heroes like us!” Chara gave a raucous shout, still fighting back their chuckling as they clutched their Radem close to their chest.

“Never!” Frisk chimed in, holding their Pheo up triumphantly in their other hand.

Perhaps seven was a lucky age after all.

  
  



End file.
